Power consumption is a key consideration in devices that are battery powered. A design criterion for a battery powered device is to minimize power consumption to extend the period of time between battery recharges or replacement as much as possible. In some deployments, such as remotely located sensors, battery replacement may be both impractical as well as expensive. Even in situations where the battery powered device is readily accessible and recharging is easy, such as in cellular telephones, tablets, laptop computers, wearable devices (WDs), and so on, recharging the battery is still an inconvenient and time consuming task.
Radio communications modules (RCMs), which provide wireless connectivity that is so vital to the operation of these battery powered devices, are also significant sources of power consumption. Therefore, there is a need to reduce power consumption in battery powered devices with RCMs.
Security is another key consideration in devices. A malicious device may be able to cause a device to spend a considerable amount of power, thereby depleting its battery, by having the device respond to transmissions directed towards the device. The malicious device may be able to do so even without being able to penetrate the security of the device. Therefore, there is a need to provide protection against malicious devices intending to deplete the battery of battery powered devices.